Weaponizing Violence Against Women: The Far-Right’s Use of Moral Panics and the Politics of Fear
Stephanie Hanlon
In recent months, there have been many reports of protests around the accommodation of refugees in Ireland. These protests have largely been whipped up by far-right agitators spreading malicious, racist rumours. They have spread stories about violence against women to create a fearmongering narrative around single ‘unvetted’ men of ‘military age’, and their supposed danger to local communities. False claims of sexual violence by migrants have trended in Ireland, with far-right agitators proclaiming that they are ‘standing up for communities’.
Far-right groups have long presented themselves as protectors of women and children against the ‘threat’ of ethnic minority men. But this narrative is used as a smokescreen to justify racism, whilst positioning white women as property to be defended. Given the long history of attacks on feminists, socialists, anti-racist activists, LGBTQ, migrant and refugee women, the far-right view of the women who ‘deserve protection’ is extremely narrow.
A key tactic of the far-right is to manufacture moral panics. This article examines the politics of fear as a strategic tool of the far-right, specifically its role in creating a false moral panic around claims of sexual violence by migrants. Valuable work has been undertaken by activists who have responded swiftly to counter this dangerous misinformation and debunk these rumours. This article focuses on the dynamics and tactics of the far-right in orchestrating this moral panic and the hypocrisy and contradictions that emerge. Lastly, it argues that feminist activists must be at the forefront in countering the far-right in order to defeat them.
What are moral panics?
Stanely Cohen defines a moral panic as situations where a “condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests.” [1] Hall et al.[2] expand the definition to include a measure of what constitutes such panics: “When the official reaction to a person, groups of persons or series of events is out of all proportion to the actual threat offered.”
Central to moral panics are the production of dangers and threats. The danger threatens something that is fundamental to society and therefore is argued to pose a serious threat to the very order of things. In this case, false claims of sexual violence by migrant and refugee men have served to create a moral panic around protecting communities, women, and children. This has been used to make an exaggerated leap to claims that the increase in refugees and asylum seekers leads to an increase in crime.
““The paradox at the heart of far-right moral panics is that such panics depend on ideals of women’s freedom and equality, while at the same time pushing an ideology that extinguishes them.””
This is not true. This is not representative of the reality of sexual and gender-based violence in Ireland, and indeed there is no evidence to support these claims.
In his work The Oldest Trick in the Book, Ben Debney argues that the ‘construction of false crises to mask real ones and persecution of scapegoats in the name of crisis management […] represents a tangible scapegoating praxis with a historical continuity’ wherein acts ordinarily ‘considered anathema to social values are permitted in the name of temporary expediency, cast as necessary evils to neutralize and overcome the alleged threat’.[3] The paradox at the heart of far-right moral panics is that such panics depend on ideals of women’s freedom and equality, while at the same time pushing an ideology that extinguishes them.
A colonial legacy: morality as a vehicle of social control of the capitalist class
Moral panics have traditionally been engineered by the capitalist class. Muddled contemporary issues such as drug use, single mothers, terrorism, ‘out of control youths’ and ethnic minorities [4] are manipulated for economic purposes and ignited to create public support. Morality acts as a disciplining force, a means of generating social conformity and suppressing dissent. In Ireland, both the Church and State created a ‘deviant category’ of women, identified deviant behaviour and mobilised consensus and concern around it: moral panics circulated around unwed and single mothers, resulting in punishment and incarceration in the Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby Homes.
Colonial thinking is deeply ingrained into far-right moral panics around migrant men. Portraying the Other as dangerous sexual aggressors is a common rhetorical strategy used to describe members of colonised nations to justify persecution of that community.[5] We see the Irish far-right tap into and utilise imperialist tools. This highlights one of the many contradictions among the so-called patriots of the far-right.
It is useful to reflect on the parallels between the treatment of Irish immigrants throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and the way refugees are being received in the country today. As well as forgetting the treatment of Irish refugees and recognition of Ireland as a history of outward migration, the far-right neglect the historical treatment of Irish migrant men in the nineteenth-century as violent and subhuman. The Most Recently Discovered Wild Beast (1881) is such an example. The political cartoon comes from the British satirical magazine called Judy and captures a significant moment in anti-Irish prejudice. The ‘Wild Beast’ wears an “infernal machine,” a terrorist bomb that is disguised as a book.
Source: Judy, or The London Serio-Comic Journal, August 3, 1881
Moral panics – women and the family
The far-right oppose women’s rights at every juncture. Their ideology sees women themselves being in control of their sexual and reproductive rights as a threat to the hallowed institution of the family. The German fascist slogan Kinder, Küche, Kirche (translated to Children, Kitchen, Church) was introduced to reinforce the centrality of the family with propaganda directed at women amid economic crisis. It centred family and fertility in the reproduction of the nation and the maintenance of ‘racial purity’. [6] Under fascist ideology, rigid gender norms, and the institutions upon which they depend (not least a patriarchal family structure, inheritance system and labour market), must not be destabilised. As a result, the far-right repeatedly frame sexuality, human reproduction, and family life in the context of ‘moral panics’ which originally manifested over contraception and divorce, and reoccur around marriage equality, bodily autonomy, abortion, and LGBTQ rights.
Taking moral panics seriously
On Saturday 28th January, a camp of six homeless men in Ashtown, Dublin – from Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Portugal, India, and Scotland – was attacked by a gang of men with dogs, sticks and a baseball bat.[7] The attackers alleged the residents had been involved in a local assault. This coincided with protests opposing the housing of refugees in various communities around Dublin. In the first week of February, rage was whipped up in Finglas regarding the alleged sexual assault of a woman and claims that the alleged assault was perpetrated by non-Irish men.[8] About a hundred men marched through Finglas holding the same clear threat of violence. The Gardaí were forced to release a statement that they were in fact looking for a white Irish man in relation to their investigation. In mid March, an arrest was made in Waterford regarding false allegations of a spate of attacks by foreign nationals.[9] This followed the establishment of a ‘residents safety patrol’ in Dungarvan which has been promoted across far-right Telegram channels.
These events highlight how sexual assault is weaponized by far-right agitators to mobilise people and justify vigilante attacks. Social media platforms have enabled a faster spread of far-right misinformation, which can reach people at a moment where they're more action-based than thinking-oriented, amplifying misinformation and producing panic.
““Social media platforms have enabled a faster spread of far-right misinformation, which can reach people at a moment where they’re more action-based than thinking-oriented, amplifying misinformation and producing panic.””
In addition, this toxic slew of hatred and fearmongering has coincided with the proliferation of a dozen TikTok video clips, which spread across other social media platforms and made unverified claims of attacks and sexual assaults against women, men and children allegedly perpetrated by migrants.[11] The spike in allegations of sexual violence by migrants is often followed by a “call to action” by far-right actors, mostly via Telegram. An investigation by the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (2023) on a sample of 20 viral videos illustrated how a small number of accounts, with followers ranging from 10 to 15K, amassed a viewership between 4K and 1.2M. These videos push unfounded claims or accusations against migrants and asylum seekers, often showing close images of the individuals. In one case, a video shows a man entering a Dublin hospital overlaid with text accusing him of having entered to molest children and sexually assault staff and parents. The individual was identified through the video and later assaulted.
Failed moral panics against women by the far-right in Ireland
However, limited attention has been given to the fact that the moral panics we are pushing back at today are a recycled version of the far-right’s failed attempts to instigate moral panics as a reaction to recent social movements in Ireland. The irony of the recent moral panics surrounding sexual attacks on women is that they follow a well-documented history of failed moral panics against feminists and LGBTQ people. On the contrary, the rise of the far-right can be interpreted as a reactionary pushback against the progressive gains by the LGBTQ community and feminist movements. The 2010’s saw a global feminist wave, including #MeToo and Repeal, that put gender-based violence on the political agenda and won abortion and LGBT rights, despite far-right attempts to induce moral panics.
Conspiracy theories focused on the idea of LGBT grooming has become the latest moral panic. Just as the right’s moral panic over grooming invokes age-old homophobia about an elaborate system of kidnapping, paedophilia and sex trafficking, accusations of sexual assault perpetrated by refugee and migrant men play to one of the oldest racist tropes in the book, which is viewing whatever “The Other” of the day is – Black men, male refugees, Muslim men – as a predatory threat.This enables far-right agitators to situate themselves as ‘defenders of the nation’ protecting women, but this is only relevant to the far-right “when it provides an opportunity to demonise, attack, harass, and oppress others” [12]
Despite the absurdity of such claims invoked by far-right actors, we must recognise that they know that their claims are insubstantial. They seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. When confronted directly, they rely on repetitive phrases that attack their opponent to detract and deflect from facts. But by whipping up and magnifying collective alarm, they generate fear about social change, offer new opportunities for vilifying outsiders, manipulate public opinion, and mobilise alienated individuals. The attempts to orchestrate moral panics and scapegoat minorities serves four functions: 1. protect dominant groups, 2. mask and conceal state violence, 3. sow division and scapegoat minorities, and 4. distract attention from real solutions.
Where does believing in far-right moral panics lead regarding violence against women?
1. It protects Dominant Groups:
““Moral panics mask the actions of the Irish government, which have systematically crippled the support sector for years.””
In 2020, the National Party held up noose imagery at a protest calling for the removal of Roderick O'Gorman the Minister for Children as part of their “Save the Children” rally. Their current leader, Justin Barrett, was a founder of Youth Defence, who physically attacked those campaigning for a woman’s right to choose in the 1980s. During the 1995 divorce referendum, he was also spokesman for the Youth Against Divorce campaign. During the divorce referendum, claims were made that divorce and marriage equality would undermine the institution of marriage and lead to the collapse of family life itself. Youth Defence refer to themselves as working to ‘protect and save’ mothers and babies from abortion.
At the 2020 rally, a banner displayed the slogan Protect the Innocent, Punish the Guilty. One of the leading organisers of the “Save Our Children” rally was Hermann Kelly, editor of The Irish Catholic newspaper which, during the thick of the abuse scandals and reports, featured articles defending the Catholic Church during clerical sex abuse accusations.[13]
Believing in these moral panics leads us to protecting the key perpetrators. Framing refugees or asylum seekers as more likely to rape functions to protect dominant groups, much like the perpetuation of the black rapist myth [14], by detracting attention from the violence conducted by powerful white men.
2. It masks State Neglect and Violence
The lack of services and supports for women experiencing sexual violence is the key reason that violence continues to occur. Without supports and services, women cannot leave their situation or report their offender. The far-right seek to tap into the epidemic of violence against women. They perpetuate fears and dangerous myths about migrants when in fact the majority of people who experience sexual violence the perpetrators. [15] According to National Crime Survey carried out in England and Wales by the Office of National Statistics, 1 in 2 rapes against women are carried out by their partner or ex-partner and 5 out of 6 rapes against women are carried out by someone they know.[16] [17] Between 1996 and January 2023, there were 256 incidents where women died violently, with one in every two femicide victims being killed by a current or former male intimate partner. Some 163 of these women have been killed in their homes.
Moral panics mask the actions of the Irish government, which have systematically crippled the support sector for years. Annually, domestic abuse services receive more than 50,000 phone calls from more than 11,000 women and 3,500 children. In 2018, 20,722 disclosures of domestic violence against women and children were made to domestic violence services, according to 2018 National Annual Statistics by Safe Ireland. With diminished government funding, the available services were unable to meet over 3,256 requests for safe accommodation – the equivalent of around nine requests a day. There are currently nine Counties with no refuge in Ireland, and despite commitments by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee to deliver additional refuge spaces which would bring Ireland in line with the Istanbul Convention by 2024, none of the nine Counties without a refuge are on the list for the initial phase of additional refuge spaces.
Homelessness:
Although it is widely acknowledged that domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women and children, it is not listed as such in Ireland, and those residing in emergency domestic violence refuges don’t feature in the monthly homelessness figures. The same housing crisis forces women and their children to stay longer in refuges because of the lack of affordable or public housing, and the knock-on effect makes it extremely difficult for domestic violence services to respond to new demand.
Sexual assault:
The Irish criminal justice system is permeated by a culture which normalises sexual violence and places the blame on rape victims. It influences both the outcomes of rape trials and the treatment of rape victims. Ireland’s record on tackling rape and sex crimes is shocking and shameful. There is a huge discrepancy between reported rape and sexual assaults and the rate of prosecution. In 2015, out of the 2,110 reported rapes and sexual assaults just 750 were resolved. In relation to cases that were “resolved” – statistics from the Central Statistics Office and the Irish Courts system show that 90% of recorded rapes and sexual assaults end in something other than a conviction.
3. It sows Division:
Stuart Hall argued that a moral panic over black criminality at the time created a diversion away from the wider economic crisis – 'black youths out of control' being the headlines rather than 'Capitalism in Crisis'.[18] Fascist ideology relies on the creation of ‘victims’ and ‘the common enemy’ to demonize specific groups, and privilege others. Scapegoating minorities distracts from the pre-existing symptoms of structural violence. The Irish government gets away with decimating support services and perpetuating the kind of economic hardship which is proven to lead to increased instances of domestic violence. Moral panics do not tackle the roots of structural inequalities (i.e. discrimination in the workplace, migrant rights, gender inequality, and LGBTQ rights or disability rights).
4. It distracts Attention from Real Solutions
Importantly, moral panics distract away from tangible solutions to address the issue of gender-based violence. We need proper investment in infrastructure to re-home women; solid and reliable state funding so that services can be resourced. Cases of sexual assault, rape, and exploitation demand a zero tolerance approach. The inadequacy of the justice system results in lenient sentencing and lower rates of prosecution for rape and sexual assault. The lack of successful prosecution of people who rape or sexually assault, along with rape culture, must be challenged in order to create a strong culture of consent and justice.
““The far-right have nothing to show for women’s rights or safety, other than a long track record of intimidation, threats, and violence against women””
Conclusion
The far-right have nothing to show for women’s rights or safety, other than a long track record of intimidation, threats, and violence against women. Key leaders and organisers have openly defended clerical sex abuse. They continue to attack feminists. They have fought to keep legislation that prioritises a foetus over the life of women. They will never campaign on women’s issues because they are inherently misogynistic. This is why feminist activists must lead the fight in exposing their claims.
This history of our success reminds us that women are not victims. We are leaders in the struggle against misogyny and the sexist system of capitalism, illustrated by the ground-breaking victories for LGBTQ and women’s rights that have pushed back the same fascist bigots that we face today. Activists campaigning for Marriage Equality and Repeal have been on the receiving end of failed far-right attempts to orchestrate moral panics around abortion and same-sex marriage. We are faced with a challenge; “they have explicitly woven ‘pro-woman’ rhetoric into their racist message in order to build support”.[19]
This is contested ground and it is undeniable that far-right groups are appropriating violence against women to demonise refugee and migrant men. Resisting these movements means challenging them ideologically as well as opposing their mobilisations. There has been inspiring resistance across the country as anti-racist, LGBTQ, feminist groups and local people have tirelessly organised counter-protests that take on the far-right. At the centre of this, we must continue to highlight that when the far-right are making these arguments, they continue to do as they always have done: protect the real culprits, detract from the State’s failures and divide the working class to distract from real solutions.
Article originally published in Issue 10 of Rupture Magazine. Subscribe or purchase previous issues here.
Notes
Cohen, S. (1972, p28) Moral Panic and Folk Devils .
Hall S, Critcher C, Jefferson T, Clarke J, Roberts B. (1978, pp20). Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order. London: Macmillan.
Debney, B. (2020, p3) The Oldest Trick in the Book: Panic-driven Scapegoating in History and Recurring Patterns of Persecution, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hall S, Critcher C, Jefferson T, Clarke J, Roberts B. (1978, pp20). Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order. London: Macmillan.
Davis, A. (1988) Rape, racism, and the myth of the black rapist. In A. Davis (Ed.), Women, race and class (pp. 172–201). New York, NY: Vintage.
Orr, J. (2019, p45) Women and the Far-Right. International Socialism Issue 163. pp. 41-64.
Holland, K. (2023) Men with dogs, sticks and baseball bat attack Dublin migrant camp. Irish Times. 28/01/23. [online] Available at: www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2023/01/28/men-with-dogs-sticks-and-baseball-bat-attack-dublin-migrant-camp/
O’Keefe, C. (2023) Gardaí: White Irish male, not a migrant, involved in alleged sexual assault at heart of right-wing protests. Irish Examiner. 31/01/23. [online] Available at: www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-41061377.html
Roche, B. (2023) ‘'Woman arrested after making report of sexual assault in Dungarvan'. 15/03/2023. [online] Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2023/03/15/woman-arrested-after-making-report-of-sexual-assault-in-dungarvan/
O’Neill, C. (2023) Gardaí confirm Finglas sexual assault suspect to be a white Irish male following racist demonstrations. Hot Press. [online] Available at: www.hotpress.com/lifestyle-sports/gardai-confirm-finglas-sexual-assault-suspect-to-be-a-white-irish-male-following-racist-demonstrations-22949610
ISD (2023) Migrants and asylum seekers in Ireland at risk as a result of trending TikTok videos. [online] Available at: www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/anti-migrant-tiktok-videos-trending-in-ireland/
Mullally, U. (2023, February). The comforting theory Irish people won't coalesce around far-right has disintegrated. The Irish Times. Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/02/02/the-comforting-theory-that-irish-people-wont-coalesce-around-the-far-right-has-disintegrated/
Daly, G. (2018) Pope ‘bravely’ admitting failure responding to Chile sex abuse accusations. The Irish Catholic [online] Available at: www.irishcatholic.com/pope-bravely-admitting-failure-responding-to-chile-sex-abuse-accusations/
Davis, A. (1988) Rape, racism, and the myth of the black rapist. In A. Davis (Ed.), Women, race and class (pp. 172–201). New York, NY: Vintage.
World Health Organisation (WHO) (2021) Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2018. Global, regional and national prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women and global and regional prevalence estimates for non-partner sexual violence against women. World Health Organization, on behalf of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence Against Women Estimation and Data. [online] Available at: www.who.int/news/item/09-03-2021-devastatingly-pervasive-1-in-3-women-globally-experience-violence
Office of National Statistics (ONS) (2021) Nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration, England and Wales: year ending March 2020. [online] Available at: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/natureofsexualassaultbyrapeorpenetrationenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020
Rape Crisis UK (2023) Statistics about rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse. Website. [online] Available at: rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/
Hall S, Critcher C, Jefferson T, Clarke J, Roberts B. (1978, pp20). Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order. London: Macmillan.
Orr, J. (2019, p45) Women and the Far-Right. International Socialism Issue 163. P61